Skokie issued a scam alert last month after a resident reported receiving an email saying that an order to boil water was in effect, with a link to click for more information, officials said.
Such emails, texts and calls are often spam or phishing communications that could allow the caller to drain people’s bank accounts, open credit cards in their name or make extravagant purchases at the victim’s expense, among other frauds, said Commander John Oakley of the Skokie police department.
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He said the crime takes many forms and that the Skokie police department gets about one report a week from residents complaining about a new type of phishing scam.
‘”Phishing’ is any type of communication via email, text message or a phone call where it’s not a real company or business trying to speak with you,” he explained, adding that scammers have stolen million of dollars from unsuspecting people around the country who gave the callers personal information.
“The ultimate goal is to get names, social security numbers or even account numbers,” Oakley said. “They’re looking for that information to use to commit fraud.”
According to the village scam alert, if a boil order were ever to go into effect in Skokie, village officials would announce the order using various channels: posting on the village website home page, including an ‘alert’ bar across the top; issuing a special edition of the SkokieNews electronic newsletter; posting on the village’s Facebook page; utilizing email, text and phone calls through the village’s Smart911 emergency notification system and adding a crawl message to SkokieVision cable channels 17 and 25 and more.
Residents have to proactively register for the Smart911 emergency notification system at https://www.skokie.org/327/Smart911-Emergency-Notification-System. The old CodeRED system is no longer in effect, and residents who had it must re-register with Smart911.
“The village issues emergency information in numerous platforms, and registering for email, text and mobile phone alerts ensures that important information reaches residents so that both they and their families can remain safe,” said Ann Tennes, Director of Marketing and Communications with the village of Skokie.
Skokie would use the Smart911 system to send emergency alerts for events such as severe weather, public safety incidents, evacuation orders and water boil orders, as well as when alternate-side parking regulations are in effect after a heavy snowfall, according to the village website.
“These phishing scams are pretty wide spread and they usually target a large number of people,” Oakley said. “Their success rate is usually pretty low but it just takes one person out of a thousand to provide that information and they (scammers) are given access to a wide range of information and accounts and that can be very useful to them.”